10 things you need to know today: December 3, 2019

(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Jump to category:

1. House Intelligence Committee to consider impeachment inquiry report
2. N.C. judges approve congressional map replacing GOP-gerrymandered districts
3. U.S. reportedly releases Lebanon military aid
4. GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter to change plea to guilty
5. Georgia governor expected to pick business executive for Senate seat
6. Trump restores metal tariffs on Brazil and Argentina
7. School officer shoots armed student in Wisconsin
8. Trump re-election campaign says it won't give Bloomberg News credentials
9. Trump signals possible heavy tariffs on French goods
10. Jimmy Carter hospitalized for urinary tract infection

published 3 December 2019

1. House Intelligence Committee to consider impeachment inquiry report

The House Intelligence Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday to vote on the Democratic-led panel's report on its impeachment inquiry against President Trump. House Republicans drafted a 123-page report to counter the arguments Democrats made in the committee report. Republicans defended Trump's dealings with Ukraine, while Democrats said witnesses described an effort by Trump to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democrats, withholding congressionally approved military aid for leverage. Republicans said the witnesses didn't provide evidence of "bribery, extortion," or other impeachable offenses. "The evidence presented does not prove any of these Democrat allegations," the Republicans said. They also said Trump had the right to keep witnesses and documents from the committee because the process was unfair.

A panel of North Carolina judges on Monday approved a new congressional map lawmakers submitted last month to be used in the 2020 primaries. The three-judge Wake County Superior Court panel had blocked the use of a 2016 congressional map next year because the court found that it unfairly benefited Republicans. The judges said there was not enough time to determine whether the new map was partisan gerrymandering. Assemblymen David Lewis and Destin Hall, Republicans who led the redistricting committee, said "it's time now to stop the endless litigation and out-of-state lawyering." Democrats said the state's Republicans have "yet again run out the clock on fair maps" and pushed through a new gerrymander. The state is roughly divided between the two parties, but under the old maps Republicans won 10 of the state's 13 congressional seats.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The Trump administration released more than $100 million in military assistance to Lebanon before Thanksgiving, two congressional staffers and an administration official confirmed on the condition of anonymity. The money was caught in limbo at the Office of Management and Budget for months despite the State Department alerting Congress in September that it would be spent. The reason for the holdup remains unclear, despite members of Congress pressing the White House for an explanation. Now that it has arrived, the aid is intended to be used to help curb Iran's influence in Lebanon. Tehran backs the Shiite Hezbollah movement, which maintains a government presence and a militia.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) plans to change his plea in a corruption case to guilty on Tuesday, he said in an interview that aired Monday. Hunter had pleaded not guilty to misusing campaign funds, calling the allegations a "witch hunt." But he said in the interview that he wanted to protect his three children from a trial. "I think it would be really tough for them," Hunter, 42, said in an interview with San Diego TV station KUSI. "It's hard enough being the kids of a public figure. I think it's time for them to live life outside the spotlight." Hunter's wife, Margaret Hunter, also was charged in the case and had been called to testify against him under a plea deal. Hunter, a combat Marine veteran and early supporter of President Trump, was re-elected last year and has been running for a seventh term despite the charges.

Allies of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) prepared to defend his expected nomination of financial executive Kelly Loeffler, a political newcomer, to replace retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday. Kemp is expected to announce his selection of Loeffler on Wednesday, despite President Trump's public lobbying for Rep. Douglas Collins (R-Ga.) to get the seat when Isakson leaves for health reasons. Collins is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, and he has been among Trump's most forceful defenders in the impeachment inquiry. Since it became clear he wouldn't get the nod, Collins has suggested he might run for the seat in a 2020 special election to finish the last two years of Isakson's term, setting up a potential primary clash.

President Trump announced via Twitter on Monday that he would restore steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentina, accusing the South American nations of "presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies." The cheapening of their currencies "is not good for our farmers," Trump said. He also urged the Federal Reserve to "likewise act" to stop other countries from taking "advantage of our strong dollar." The unexpected announcement was similar to previous spur-of-the-moment tariff moves by Trump, with no clarification about how and when the tariffs would take effect. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro declined to comment until he talked to his economic minister, but he said "if needed," he could "also talk to Trump."

A school resource officer at a Wisconsin high school shot and wounded a 17-year-old student who allegedly pulled a gun inside a classroom on Monday and refused to drop it. The suspect, who was the only person injured, was taken into custody after the incident at Waukesha South High School. Students and teachers rushed to find cover after people shouted that someone had a gun. "These kids start running out from the classroom directly across from us, and one of them goes 'he's got a gun,'" said a sophomore who was in the hall with his Spanish teacher and classmates hanging posters. "With the teacher being out there, I was glad she was out there, she just got us into the classroom right away, so we were in lockdown before they even announced it."

President Trump's re-election campaign said on Monday it would stop issuing press credentials to Bloomberg News reporters, accusing them of bias. The news agency is owned by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who recently joined the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg News announced after Bloomberg declared his candidacy that it would stop providing critical coverage of the Democratic field, but would continue covering Trump. "Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will no longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. Bloomberg News' editor-in-chief, John Micklethwait, responded by saying: "The accusation of bias couldn't be further from the truth."

President Trump indicated Monday that he was considering heavy new tariffs on some French imports. Hours after Trump made the comment in a tweet, his top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, released the results of a five-month investigation that concluded that France had discriminated against U.S. internet companies through a digital services tax. Lighthizer said that the U.S. should respond to the finding with tariffs of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion worth of French products, including cheese, yogurt, sparkling wine, and makeup. The proposal would have to be approved by Trump. It threatens to increase tensions between the U.S. and European allies as Trump visits London for a NATO summit.

Former President Jimmy Carter returned to the hospital over the weekend for treatment of a urinary track infection, spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said Monday. Carter had returned home less than a week earlier after being discharged from the hospital following surgery to relieve bleeding-related pressure on his brain. "He is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon," she added. "We will issue a statement when he is released for further rest and recovery at home." Carter, 95, is the longest-living former president and he has had several recent health problems, including two falls in October. He battled cancer a few years ago.

Explore More

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.